WELLINGTON, New Zealand, CMC – West Indies’ dream of reaching the ICC Women’s World Cup final ended in tatters here yesterday when Australia thrashed them 157 runs in the opening semi-final at the Basin Reserve.
In a contest reduced to 45 overs per side due to a 1-¾ hour delay at the start because of rain, Australia dominated from the start, with Player-of-the-Match Alyssa Healy smashing 129 from 107 balls to fire the six-time champions to an imposing 305 for three.
Healy put on a dominant 216 for the first wicket with Rachael Haynes who made 85 from 100 deliveries, while Beth Mooney arrived late to strike 43 from 31 balls.
In reply, West Indies never looked like threatening the target and crashed to 148 all out off 37 overs. Captain Stafanie Taylor top-scored with a pedestrian 48 from 75 balls while Deandra Dottin and Hayley Matthews both struck 34, but no other batsman reached double figures.
“I think for us it was knowing that probably our top four were going to have to bat all the overs, if you wanted a chance at chasing down that total,” Taylor told a media conference afterwards.
“Obviously, chasing over 300 in a 50 over game is never easy, furthermore [with] it being 45 overs. But every time we go to bat, we’ve got to have belief that we can get the total.
“But we probably didn’t have the start that we wanted to – and [we went] a bit slower in the middle as well, which stopped us from reaching that target.”
She added: “I thought the way the Aussies went about the power-play and in the middle there, they kind of deflated us. And we had chances, but not taking those chances as well.”
Healy lashed 17 fours and a six, racing to a half-century off 62 balls in the 22nd over before raising her fourth One-Day International hundred off only another 29 deliveries in the 29th over.
Haynes, meanwhile, reached her 50 off 66 balls before finally perishing in the 36th over, 16 balls after Healy had departed.
When Ashleigh Gardner fell for 16 in the 36th over, Australia had lost three wickets for 20 runs but Mooney combined with captain Meg Lanning (26 not out) in a 69-run, fourth-wicket stand to see their side past the 300-run mark. West Indies’ start was less than flattering. Rashada Williams spent 10 balls without scoring before pulling seamer Megan Schutt to short square leg in the fourth over with 12 runs on the board.
Dottin hammered five fours in a breezy 35-ball knock while Matthews counted two boundaries off 49 balls, the pair adding 32 for the second wicket.
But the enterprise ended once Dottin picked out long on with pacer Tahlia McGrath in the 10th over. The third-wicket stand between Matthews and Taylor produced 47 runs but required 79 deliveries, leaving a drain on the run chase.
Matthews fell in the 23rd over, charging left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen (2-14) and skying to mid-off, while Taylor dithered until she was last out in the 37th over, slicing leg-spinner Alana King to point.
Chinelle Henry and Anisa Mohammed were unable to bat due to injury.
